The pace slowed down from 5.17 percent in 2018 and is also lower than the 5.3 percent targeted for 2019, which is attributed to weakening investments and exports.
BPS head Suhariyanto told reporters during a press briefing that the Indonesian economy grew 4.97 percent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2019, the slowest since Q4 of 2016.
However, he noted it was not easy to stay at the 5-percent level, and the growth is still good enough amid the global economic slowdown.
Despite impact of the US-China trade dispute, the country’s growth was buoyed by relatively strong household spending throughout 2019.
Household spending, which accounts for more than half of Indonesia’s GDP, grew by 5.04 percent last year, compared to the 5.05 percent in the previous year because of falling vehicle sales.
Investment – the second largest contributor to GDP growth – increased 4.45 percent last year, a sharp decline from the 6.67-percent increase recorded in 2018.
Government spending rose 3.25 percent from 4.8 percent in 2018, while exports and imports contracted 0.87 percent and 7.69 percent, respectively, last year.
